NEW DELHI: Indian equities opened on a volatile note, tracking weak Asian cues in the wake of renewed trade war jitters.

Asian stocks declined after media reports suggested that Trump administration might impose another set of tariffs on Chinese goods.

Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter, that Trump said he was ready to impose more tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from China as soon as the public comment period on the plan ends next week.

After hitting its fresh all-time low of 71-mark against dollar in opening trade, the local currency was trading 17 paise down at 70.91 in early trade.

Month-end dollar demand from importers and rising crude oil prices in the international market during the last couple of sessions mainly pressurised the local currency.

Arond 9:30 am, the BSE Sensex was 76 points, or 0.20 per cent, up at 38,765.82, while the Nifty was 22 points, or 0.19 per cent, up at 11,699.

Within the first 15 minutes of trade, Sensex had swung over 200 points.

Pharma, IT and FMCG contributed the most to Sensex gains.

BSE Healthcare index jumped over 2 per cent, with Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma being the top gainers in the pharma pack.

Infosys, Wipro, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid and Coal India climbed over 1 per cent in Sensex, leading the pack of gainers.

YES Bank shares fell over 3 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed YES Bank CEO Rana Kapoor to continue in his present position till further notice just a day before his current three-year term was about to end. The bank’s shareholders had approved another three-year term for him in June.